


✦Escape The Night With Tyler Oakley!✦ (AN ETN AU)

by Goldendoodlegamer11



Category: escape the night - Fandom
Genre: 1970s, AU, Adventure, Adventure Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artifacts, Back to life, Bravery, Breaking down, Canonical Character Death, Carnival, Character Death, Clowns, Coming back to life, Coward becoming a hero, Creepy, Death, Dolls, Escape the Night AU, EtN, Everlock, Gen, Grief, Heartbreak, Inspired, Jokes, Memory, Mystery, Panic Attacks, Plot Twists, Scary, Shipping, Shipping (Hints), Snakes, Society Against Evil, Time Travel, Tyler's gonna go through some angst, descriptions, escape the night, on a mission, puns, revival, sorry in advance, stuffed animals, the sky is green alright, town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldendoodlegamer11/pseuds/Goldendoodlegamer11
Summary: An Escape The Night AU where Tyler Oakley is approached and given the opportunity of saving his long dead companions. If he goes to the town of Everlock, and rescues it from a terrible ending, all of his friends will be brought back from the dead, and they will never have gone to that mansion.But he has to invite his friends, first. So, accompanied by a very skeptical Andrea Russett, he goes to a town with a torn dark fern green sky, streaking with yellows. Scary, but not as bad as he's seen. He plays games with them, his friends, he laughs and smiles, and he's almost excited to rescue this trapped town.Maybe this won't be so bad.(Honestly like a thousand credits and points to canufeelthemagictonight AKA Leah Merone for the general idea of this story and coming up with ideas for chapters! Go check out her version of this! Plus, we've agreed that my version is most likely a continuation of her version)





	1. An Unwelcome Visit

**Author's Note:**

> Alright - let's do this, I'm excited! Get your comfiest PJs, some popcorn, and your EtN merch (if there is any.) Don't forget your carnival cape and hat!  
> And enjoy this spooky Autumn-Halloween tale!  
> Welcome to Escape The Night with Tyler Oakley!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In This Chapter: Tyler Oakley gets an unwelcome visit from the Society Against Evil, and they have a dire request to ask of him.

Tyler Oakley _swears_ he's not dreaming. Hopefully. It's odd to suddenly be standing in an inky darkness. Then in a place with a dark fern green sky. Yellow thunder rumbles somewhere in this distance, mingled with dark grey, and oddly enough, Tyler can taste eggnog.

It feels weird.

  
The cool air relaxes his skin, but he still feel jumpy.

 

_Why am I here?_

_Where_ is _...here?_

 

Another bright flash of fern along the mixed and muddled brown-greens alarms him. Tyler lets out a scream and backpedals rapidly until his back hits something. He whirls around and sees a woman. She has wavy darker strawberry blonde hair, much like his own, and freckles covering her face. She seems to be wearing some sort of battle armor, which is a darker blue-grey-violet colour. Tyler grimaces. "Hello, Tyler."

"Hey," He whispers weakly.

 

"Look down," She instructs.

Tyler does so, and gasps. Bright red flows around him, copper buttons neatly fitting a puffy but comfortable blouse the colour of dusty golden rose, shimmering with colour at the slightest of movements. Come to think of it, the red colours seem to have much more shades and it almost seems like royalty. Black boots fit comfortably around his feet, and there's an extra layer of royal blue-violet colour on his coat, swirling around.

For a moment, Tyler gasps at the outfit's beauty.

 

Then he realizes.

It's his Thespian outfit.

_I - I thought I tore it up-_

 

 

"Follow me, please. We have much to discuss." 

 

She turns and walks off. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and Tyler follows her reluctantly. The earth is cracked and crumbled at odd ends, a dark cyan colour. Tyler has to step over many large cracks, while the woman walks over each of them with ease. Every so often, something in the earth shifts. Finally, they get to a building.

Its a old cream-colored church. There stand a man and a woman. Both look equally serious, their expressions unreadable. Tyler gulps.

 

 "Joey Graceffa's fate." The woman asks him.

 

Tyler gets a sudden pang; this has something to do with Joey, a name he hasn't heard in ages. It's been months since that horrible incident, where there was a party, and his friends were dying, and everything was happening so fast - and then Joey was killed.

 

Tyler _saw_ him die. 

 

"Dead." The reply is meant to sound hollow, but Tyler squeaks it out.

The woman looks down gravely. She converses with the man to her side, and the woman that brought Tyler here. More thunder looms, and there isn't an inch of the empyrean above them that isn't covered by shades of green and grey muddy clouds. Finally, the group turns to him.

 

"This will be a lot harder; without him, un-tethered to life, we will not be able to send the message to him through you. There is no will or strength left in him to fight for his survival. Though, there is an alternative option, if you are prepared to listen. It might tear everything you know apart - are you _sure_ you want to hear it" Despite himself, Tyler nods. _What is this all about?  
_

The woman who brought him here explains. "There is a town - Everlock. You must save it. If you choose to accept this offer, you will be given a briefcase and an object to transport you through time. The rewards for saving this town from the evil that has befallen it will be great; and the consequences...will be dire." Tyler looks from one stoic guardian to the next. He has to go back in time.

 

"Explain..?" He asks awkwardly. The woman nods. "Of course."

 

"The town of Everlock has vanished and been locked away in time - the 1970s. One can only get there by invitation. The town is in danger from an evil we have been battling for what seems like ages. You must be the one to save these people. Your friends however, the people you invite, will have to die." Thunder rumbles in perfect timing to the sound of Tyler's rapidly palpitating heart. _I have to invite people, like Joey did. I have to kill them...but...knowingly. Joey didn't know we were invited, but I'll be sending them straight to their deaths._

 

He suddenly feels ill, ready to find a crack in the earth to throw up into. 

He has to willingly kill his friends off.

 

"But," The woman continues. "If you manage to save the town, then all of the previous threats will have died, but your friends, both from Everlock and mansions past, will be revived, brought back to life. All you need to do is collect artifacts - they will destroy the evil of the town and guarantee your friends survival. You will only be gone for the entire evening, and we will provide a mode of transportation and a new outfit, along with anything else you may need.  
This town must be saved, and with Joey no longer willing to fight for life, you need to do it for him."

 

Tyler feels dizzy. Thunder rumbles deeper and he just wants the whole entire world to be quiet, but he thinks about this challenge. Save a town, people might die, and bring everyone back to life. Seems easy enough, but Tyler knows Joey, and anything that has to do with Joey isn't good. He opens his mouth, but the girl seems to know what he will ask.

 

 "Your friends will retain and keep their memories, if you're concerned over that, but it will reverse time to where we, the Society, have time to step in. Once that's all settled, we'll have someone explain to the present what's gone on and how everyone's alive. Happy stories, everyone's reunited, that type of stuff." The strawberry blonde haired girl hands him a set of car keys. She looks up at him. "Do you accept?"

 

Tyler would like to evaporate on the spot and die. Just die. No feeling. Just slip into a crack and die.

 

Dark grey thunder mixes with fern green streaks and purple-blue lightning. The warm wind picks up and tosses itself the other way, turning this cracked-valley world chilly and bitter. The green-grey sky suddenly illuminates with yellow-orange, and Tyler winces. He hates this place.

 

His mind is whirling with possibilities of rescuing his friends from death, of having his best friends back; visions of being able to hang out with Alex again, and having Tana's friendship, and being able to apologize to Liza all make him flood with excitement. More eggnog smells waft through his nose, warming his insides around the creepy where-ever-the-heck-they-are. He feels like flying in ecstasy, and he grabs the contract the dark-haired man holds.

He slows.

 

"And...if I can't..."

The SAE members exchange looks that give away nothing. The second woman turns back to him.

"You die along with the town, and those who are dead will stay so."

 

_Crap._

Big risk there. Though if he takes it, he'll save so many lives. He'll get to have them all back, reunite families, restore YouTube from its current ebb of panic. He grabs the dagger from underneath the cream-colored parchment, and in his excited state he dosen't even feel the pain of the blade slicing through his palm. He writes his name. The members nod slightly.

"Any special requests before we send you off?" 

 

 

Tyler opens his mouth, then closes it.

He would _hate_  going to a new area alone...

 

"I...I think I know what I want to request."

 

The world turns black as soon as he tells them his request. He wakes up in a panic, exclaiming nonsense before he calms himself down. _Was it all a dream?_ He wonders, clenching his heart. Then he sees the briefcase by the door.  
_This is happening._  
_This is real._

_I need to save a town._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Tyler is invited to Everlock. Andrea is involved.


	2. Convincing Ms. Russett

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In This Chapter: Tyler invites his friends to Everlock but forgets a key item. In other news, the SAE roll their eyes at this  
> "problem" and wonder if this was the best idea instead of just doing this themselves. Andrea hits her head on a car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know in the summery when I said that this is technically a continuation of Leah Merone's, 'Tyler's Everlock,' one-shot? Well, I lied. Last chapter kinda just breaks that. But now it is a continuation. Starting now, from this chapter.
> 
> Also the canon etn finale came and ahh crap I was a wreck.

_'My friends...'_

  _Ew. That sounds posh._

But it's fine, Tyler's thing is posh anyways! 

The warm peach-coral and dusty sand-coloured sky stretches above him as he writes.

 

 _'I am in need of your help to rescue a town trapped in the 1970s - Everlock...'_ Tyler continues writing, and before he knows it, he's done. Nine invitations are stacked neatly on the edge of his dark penny-hickory brown desk, cream in colour and stuck each with a stamp. Tyler dosen't want to do this, but then he thinks of his friends. _They deserve a second chance. All of them._

 

Images of what could await him in the 1970s swirl through his head. A bright red fire-breathing dragon turning the land to ash? A Halloween inspired town where simply misunderstood ghosts terrorize the civilians? Maybe it's just a simple quest out on sea, which hold hidden dangers as they search for a mysterious item at the bottom of the Deep Sea.

 It could be anything, and he's starting to feel a lot more excited at the possibilities.

 

Tyler looks over to the new outfit they've given him - a cream shirt with simple peach-golden coloured stripes that slowly change colour and shimmer in different lights, a small red ascot, and a heather-purple blue funky-looking overcoat, and he puts it on. _I guess I'm the Savant now...huh. The Host._ He can see himself at the top of a banister, looking down at the golden-brown lights of a reddish-brown mansion, alongside happy guests, chatting and telling jokes.

 

_Plus - if I save the town, everyone who's died can come back! And if I can't save the town..._

Tyler tries to push the terror-filled thought from his head. But he thinks of advice he got from Andrea, multiple times; if you get a lot of what-if questions, simply answer them! Tyler tries. _Well, alright - If I can't save the town, I die. Nine other people die. The SAE won't be able to stop the evil. Everyone else stays dead..._

_Nope. Nevermind - that's so much worse._

 

Wait - that's who he's forgotten. _Andrea!_

 

 The one person who he requested to be by his side, and he hasn't even talked to her yet. _Oh good Lord - she's gonna_ kill _me._

 

Tyler _would've_ liked to also request Oli and Eva, who he knew were previous survivors of Joey's other little party, but the SAE had told him in yet another horrifying dream that they had both almost immediately passed on the offer before they got to the part of their friends coming back to life. Tyler texted Eva multiple times but to hardily any avail. 

Cowards.

Tyler sighs, leaves quick loving but not too concerning texts to those he loves, and he leaves. Andrea's new SAE-approved costume is tucked neatly under his arm. At least if he's doing this, he has somebody to be there by his side, who's gone through the same things as him. It helps quite a lot.

 

 

But Tyler still gulps.

 

-

 

Andrea Russet is suspicious. She's gone with Tyler to this thing that he's being super secretive about. He's unusually squeaky and quiet as they drive along in his "new car," that looks sleek and nice and all but definitely seems...old. She listens to the radio instead. 

 _"Please to meet you! Won't you guess my name?"_ Drifts through the car. Andrea hums gently. For some reason, Tyler wants her to drive, occasionally telling her which roads and paths to drive through.

 

Shades of umber-iron and smoky greys loom overhead before finally settling into a soothing dark nothingness, tints of fern greens and plum blues on the horizon. The few puffy white clouds are gone, replaced by a few dark umber whisps. Tyler tells her to drive into a nearby dirt road and then she stops. The surrounding area is mainly just a field, with a few early sprinkled Autumn trees in reds and golds and bronzes everywhere and the colours of heather is almost everywhere alongside the broken copper-brown path.   
Andrea faces him.

 

"Alright Tyler - why are we _really_ here?" She knows Tyler - heck, she narrowly escaped _death_ alongside him - and she can see the look of fear and guilt in his eyes.Finally, the strawberry-blonde haired bespeckled boy speaks, clearing his throat.

"We have to save a town. In the 1970s." 

 

Andrea blinks. Then blinks again. Her eyes widen slightly. "You - what." It's not a question. So Tyler spills it - all of it, his dream, his letters, it all. When he's done Andrea's mouth feels like sandpaper. " _Tyler Oakley..._ " She says, her voice lowering dangerously.

"But it's okay!" He blunders quickly, placing his hands out in case she's ready to run from the car. "If we save the town, they'll all come back to life! All of them! Even Joey! The Society Against Evil will step in before, and it'll all reset but not really, and we'll remember everything!"

 

" _You tricked me_!" Andrea yells indignantly.

Tyler looks like a puppy being scolded. "I'm sorry," He winces quietly.

 

"Tyler!"

"I have your costume in the backseat."

 

"Hnnn." Andrea responds to this by slamming her head into the steering wheel. The car horn blares loudly. She grumbles while Tyler apologizes. She dosen't even notice her phone vanish from sight. The fern green grass sways sweetly along the dirt road in patches with an odd yellow-orange streak in the sky, as Andrea struggles to collect her thoughts. _I never wanted to go back there - I swore I would forget that awful masquerade - I-_

"Andrea...I'm really sorry for tricking you. But you have to understand the stakes for me."

 

Andrea looks up, and Tyler is looking down sadly. He thumbs are twitching and twiddling, and he looks genuinely guilty and sorry. "If I can't save Everlock, everyone will die and the town won't exist anymore, but since I signed the contract - I'll _die_ alongside the town."

_What!?_

"I'll die. Everyone else stays dead." Andrea's mouth falls slightly. She realizes he's risking his life to save everyone else - and if they don't do this, Tyler will be the only one to suffer. He'll die, and she'll lose her close friend.

 

"The town will use my soul whichever way it wants - I feel awful for inviting people and - putting everyone in danger for this 1970s town, but I really want to bring everyone back. I couldn't just be a total coward again and decline the offer...even if that means losing my family, my friends, everyone." He looks close to tears, and Andrea gives a small gasp.

 She quickly pulls him into a hug. "Tyler -" Against her better conscience...she sighs. "Of course I'll help you."

 

Tyler sags in her arms. "Oh - thank God."

He leaves her to change, and she meets him outside of the car. "So - do I have to be part of the dying and challenges and all that?" She's gone through enough, she'd much rather just sit back and help out where she can. To her relief, Tyler scoffs. "I promise! We'll have you be like Alison - just helping with voting and outside-of-death challenges and stuff. You're my moral support!" He grins cheerfully, his grief evaporated into a smiley freckled  face. "Awesome. So we just-"

 

"Avoid the monsters-"

"Save the town-"

"Solve any challenges-"

"Try to save people-"

"If there's any voting we make sure it's fair-"

"And then defeat the evil! Boom - everyone's back to life!"

 

Andrea finishes with a happy flourish. They grin at each other. The happy moment, however, is interrupted by her bumping into somebody. "Sorry!" They both apologize at once, and the voice is chipper and happy and -

"Ro!" Tyler exclaims. The super-friendly and baking fanatic Rosanna Pansino stumbles away from colliding with Andrea, but otherwise is smiling happily at them.

 

"You two came!" She grins excitedly, pulling them both into small hugs. "Here - we've set up camp and we're all waiting for you!" She twirls away, sporting a fern green outfit and side beret. 

 

Tyler shares a look with his accomplice.

"Shall we?"

"After you, my good Thespian," She responds, bowing slightly. They step forward together. Andrea thinks she can hear laughter...creepy, haunted _malicious_ laughter...

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: We finally get to the mysterious town of Everlock - is it a terrifying prison? Maybe a town in need of saving from a fearsome dragon? Nope - not even close.  
> It's worse.
> 
> Thanks for reading the technically first chapter! More should be coming soon and I hope to make this story interesting and adventurous but still have twists and turns from the original. Next chapter should have more POVs and we'll finally start with the terrifying scarring adventure! Hooray!


	3. Welcome To Everlock!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In This Chapter: Everyone meets up, and we FINALLY visit the town. We have a strong man, dolls with knives, and anything else you can possibly imagine at our little carnival! Make yourself at home! Wait, what? That newspaper? Oh don't be ridiculous, that's just nothing -
> 
> The YouTubers are smitten with the retro little carnival. Also, Matt just can't win today and Tyler screams inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates, but I recently got inspired to continue this story! Updates should be a lot more frequent now! Yay! Anyways, now we finally get to Everlock!

_"You actually came!_ "

 

Tyler's voice is warm in the air. He's immediately melted into a smushed hug between Roi Fabito and Rosanna, while the others cheer. Matt, Colleen, Teala, Manny, Jc, Rosanna, Nikita, Roi, Safiya. They're all here. 

They look _incredible_ \- well, in Tyler's opinion they all look like they could be in the cast of Scooby Doo, although all they're missing is a bright lime green, orange, and cyan mini-van, and he's not sure if it's rude to think that, but they look absolutely _amazing_ regardless. They all look excited, while some more than others look a little bit annoyed. Well, it doesn't matter, because they're _here._

Tyler thanks them silently, not sure if he'd ever be able to express how grateful he is.

 

"You all actually _came_ ," Tyler repeats, breathless. The choruses of "Of _course_ we came!" make his heart feel full of determination and warmth. He clutches the Society Against Evil's briefcase to his side.

"Alright, so where's the town?" Multiple people ask.

"Uh-" Tyler mumbles.

 

The Society had told him to stand around something and chant, which already sounds shady. He dosen't want to be possessed! He dosen't want his friends to be possessed! He dosen't want anyone to suddenly be taken by creepy crawlies! Dragged away by zombies, eaten by creepy spider ladies, possible scenarios fill his head, and he's already been through enough.

What did they say to chant again? Does it even matter? Yeah, it most likely matters. And what if they get it wrong?

Andrea grabs his hand.  
_Answer them,_ she seems to say. So he does. 

 _Well, if we fail, then nothing will happen. We'll simply try again, and I'm sure there's some files in the briefcase the Society gave me that'll help me figure out what to do._ He takes a deep breath, re-centers.

"They gave me some instructions so we can get to the town," He explains.

 

He pulls out a rolled-up off-white note from the briefcase. "It's a scroll," Safiya points out.  
"That's not ominous at all," Matt says quietly with a grin. 

Tyler keeps getting items from the briefcase. There's a _lot_ more in this small bag. Salt? Alright, sure, yes, salt. He hands it to Nikita, who in turn sniffs it. "This smells expensive," She says to no one in particular. Tyler has quick war flashbacks to another certain salt circle he made with a different group...

"Alright, I've got the instructions," Tyler realizes suddenly, grabbing something at the bottom of the bag and taking it out. 

 _"'Those who desire to go back in time must be inhabited by a spirit that once lived there.'_ " He starts to say.

"Hold up," Matt mutters, and then _everyone_ starts talking.

 

"Hey, everyone, stop-" Andrea's trying to act as peace-keeper while Tyler's own insecurities hammer in his brain. _So we_ are _going to get possessed._ He feels like fainting. Anxiety squeezes his lungs. " _I am_ not _cut out to be the leader of this!_ " He mutters under his breath angrily.

"Stop talking for a second! Let Tyler talk!" Andrea's currently scolding the group. Rosanna closes her tiny mouth almost immediately, while the others take a little while to stop talking. Andrea looks back at Tyler and nods her head, encouraging him to continue.

"Alright, uh - ' _place a circle of salt around significant object, then place these crystals at the head of the circle. Begin the chant the incantation at the bottom of this page.'"_ He looks up. 

Once they've done that, they all stand holding hands. Tyler begins to read from the old tan parchment.

" _From across the veil of death..._ "

 The sudden energy around them abruptly explodes loudly, and immediately they all gasp. Tyler despite himself keeps reading. Thunder booms, causing the earth to rumble. Tyler feels a warm and fuzzy tingling feeling running through his bones, and before he can shudder, he screams involuntarily. His brain turns to static.

 And he can somehow hear the Society Against Evil's voices in his head. He can't hear what they're saying, maybe words of courage? Bravery? A heartfelt speech about saving Everlock? He's not sure. And then the blaze is gone, and everyone's finished screaming. They've all basically been turned into human mush, Tyler thinks humorously. "That was...something," Matt mutters. The warm and fuzzy tingling sensation is now gone, Tyler realizes.

 

"Hey - over there!" Matt points out from somewhere near Tyler. They all look, and sure enough, there's a big luxurious maroon-red curtain flowing outwards, just underneath a logo of a jester that says _TOWN OF EVERLOCK,_ that's all connected within a dark purple-blue fence. There it is. They did it! They all begin to walk up to the bizarre curtain, talking animatedly, just as a clown seems to apparate into view. Tyler screams the loudest out of everyone and darts behind Manny, who laughs in shock.

"It's your lucky day!" The clown says excitedly. Her voice is crisp and slightly unstable, matching her checkered attire and Tyler, who's currently trying to peek out from Manny's shoulder, is not exactly sure if that's a nice thing or not. "The Carnival's in town!"

She starts to list off attractions and different acts, and every creature mentioned scares him more than the last. A Strong Man, A Snake Woman, Dolls, with knives, ( _knives!_ ) and so many more. "It's like bloody Christmas every day!" She squeals, proceeding to go into a laughing fit.

The group laughs weakly back. Tyler pales.

 

She pulls back the curtain, and Tyler's insides curl. But then, he actually sees the place they'll be saving, and _wow._ It's a Carnival, and Tyler's reminded of that small tan-colored Carnival that Oli had gone through in the 1920s, putting on a show and nearly dying in a choppy teal-waved dunk tank.  
He hopes he won't have to go through that.

_Besides, I don't think a beret would quite fit my style._

They enter a whole marketplace of booths with Carnival games promising prizes, and people selling things. It has a very warm golden-peach atmosphere, chestnut-colored stringed lights just hovering above the selling booths. Past that, the tan sandy pastels with yellows and teals turn to bright dazzling blacks and reds and purple-blues, as the booths thin out and turn to a small heather-coloured town, from the décor to the performers currently contorting themselves in front of a small crowd. Olive and fern green grass sways in splotches below the rumbling grey sky, and the sounds of prizes being won and chatter surrounds them. There's nobody screaming or in need of help, no monsters terrorizing the place, no evil staff disguised as a fun dinner party.

 _This all looks..._ nice.

 

"Oh, this is cute! What's there to save?" Colleen questions, and Tyler can't say he can't agree with her. _If this town is just a sweet little show, then I don't see what the problem is!_ Him and the others walk past many Everlock citizens and one girl with a spider crawling along and around on her face. 

 Everyone except for Roi screams, who looks more interested than terrified. Tyler has seriously underestimated the guy, with his seemingly high tolerance for creepy things. But other than the creepy lady, nothing seems...terrible.

_I think I was expecting more of...anarchy. Chaos. Definitely chaos._

Somebody seems to point out how stressed Tyler looks, because a few of them are looking at him. "You alright, man?" Asks Jc.

 

"Yeah - I'm fine," Tyler replies tiredly.

"Well, let's just have some fun! We're not in any danger right now, so let's enjoy it!" Tyler nods slowly, letting that sink it. _Sure - right, have fun. We're having fun, and nothing's wrong,_ he tries to convince himself. _Let's enjoy this place!_

-

Things start off pretty well. Tyler first tries his hand at the Test Your Strength, and doesn't do too well, what with his puny arms, but whatever.

Roi and Rosanna dance excitedly, laughing, while Matt tries playing some games. He sucks pretty bad, which makes Tyler laugh. Andrea, meanwhile, seems to be slowly taking the Carnival into consideration, her eyes scanning their new surroundings.

Nikita's currently talking with some strange guy that makes Tyler's blood pressure almost shoot through the roof. His first thought is not to trust the new guy standing in front of them, after all, they are here to save a town, and everyone's a suspect.  
But he's smiling, and there's a trusting twinkle in the newcomer's eyes. He's even holding a rose, oddly enough.

 

Nikita certainly looks taken, a completely smitten look in her face as she talks with him. 

His heart hurts, although he's not sure why.

 

Tyler eventually finds himself hanging out with Matt Colleen, Roi, and Rosanna. Roi and Rosanna talk about something, Tyler's not exactly sure what, while he accompanies Colleen and Matt to get some popcorn.

The sky's now gone from its harsh greens that Tyler's being seeing for days now, and is replaced with a nice heather-purple dome around them, with smells of caramel apples and other treats and sounds of laughter. The anxiety is starting to let go of him. Ro's currently introducing her newest family member, a purple-blue stuffed dog she's officially dubbed Blueberry, to them when Roi stumbles backwards in shock.

"Sorry!" He apologizes to the small girl. "She scared me." He points past all of them.

 

There, lurking around, is a lady. Her eyes are storm-clouds and her expression is troubled.

"Here - Jet-Setter!" Matt suggests, pushing Rosanna forwards. Not one to argue, Rosanna goes up to the new person they've all just noticed. Now _she_ gives Tyler bad vibes.

"Hello!" Rosanna chirps cheerfully, in her happy full social butterfly fashion. " _Bonjour!_ "

 

"The stars," The other lady states shortly, her eyes inclined to the heavens. Rosanna follows her gaze, but her brow furrows. "The stars?" The lady nods. "Yes - they have been talking to me."  
"What are they saying?" Ro asks, and Tyler suddenly wants to be as far away from her as possible.

"Secrets," Is her cryptic reply.

 

"Are they friendship secrets?" Rosanna asks curiously. "Light-hearted happy secrets? No..."

The newcomer shakes her head. "He's coming."

"'He's coming'?" Ro asks. The new lady doesn't answer. She holds out the small dog in an odd attempt to somehow soothe the newcomer, which makes Tyler smile. The lady does, and he thinks he can see her ease up a bit. Roi seems to take advantage of this. "Here, have him."

Rosanna pulls the dog back. "No - that's Blueberry," She tells him. 

"Anyways, we're going to go," Matt says, starting to put Rosanna and Tyler in front of him. "Ro wanted to go to on the Ferris Wheel, didn't you, Ro?" He gives them a look. Rosanna seems to catch on, as does Tyler. They both nod. "Toodles! Au revoir! Aloha!" Rosanna calls behind them.

 

Tyler kind of shudders. Not at her, specifically, but her...unease. Her expression and claim that someone's coming. Tyler suddenly feels like crying. "I - I gotta go. I'll be back in a sec," He mutters. _I knew it. I knew it I knew it I knew it - something's coming, and - and -_

Tyler hyperventilates slightly.

-

_I need something to drink. I'm parched._

He starts out by finding a small almost café. It's warm with soft terra cotta browns and tans, turquoise and red rugs everywhere. There's chatter with citizens. It's...inviting. He orders something sweet and gets what looks to be hot cocoa. He chats with Andrea, who's graciously come with him. They find a corner booth, colored chestnut near the wall.

  
The ambient chatter and soft music makes him feel better, at least a little bit. Tyler's staring straight through his hot cocoa, his hands shaking slightly.

  
"You doing alright?" Andrea asks.

"I...think so. I just don't think I was expecting this," He mutters. 

 

"What were you expecting?" She's not condescending about the question, which makes Tyler's muscles ease.

"I just - I'm not sure what, but I think I was expecting more sudden danger, like we were all going to have to deal with something right away. But it's all friendly, and I'm on edge." He places his head in his hands. " I don't _know_ what's coming."

 

Andrea takes a sip from her frothing drink. Her eyebrows are creased, clearly thinking, and Tyler looks away. "I'm - scared. I have to be prepared, but what if I'm just stressing over nothing? Maybe this wasn't a good idea, I-"

" _Tyler!_ " Andrea admonishes him, suddenly pulling him into a fierce hug in the booth. She squeezes his shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's okay - everything's alright. The Society trusted you to do this - they wouldn't have called on you if they didn't think you could handle this."

 

Tyler swallows hard. Hot cocoa slightly foams out and spills over his hands. "But there was a woman we met - she told us someone was coming, Andrea. She looked so sure of herself, and she wouldn't tell us _who_ it was. And then I'll have to keep it a secret that most of the people I brought here are going to die - I'm not sure what I'm going to say, and I feel so unprepared. And on edge. And it sucks."

A couple Everlock citizens are looking, and Tyler buries himself behind his drink, shaking. 

Jukebox music floats through the room, and Andrea seems genuinely shocked.

"Aw - Tyler, I didn't know you were this one edge about all this, especially not this much." She lowers herself to his level, forcing him to look at her. They definitely appear to be like two idiots sat at a booth, everything thinking they're whisper-yelling aggressively at each-other behind a mug of cocoa.

"I know it can be stressful with everything happening so suddenly, since we had nearly a year to get over...everything. I know you want to make things right, and you don't know what's coming, but I've learned that it's more stressful if you think of something upcoming."

 

Tyler looks up, just slightly.

"It's good to just focus on the now, and take challenges as they come. if you're thinking about whoever's coming or whatever, then, well of _course_ you're going to be panicking. And if you tell everyone what's going on, I'm sure they'll understand, probably even more so with the tough decision you had to make and the circumstances. So why don't we go out there, and beat that evil to a pulp?" She grins down at him.

She holds out her fist. "Dream team?"

Tyler gives her a shaky smile, and bumps his knuckles against hers. "Dream team."

"Good, we should go out there again," She says, standing up. "They'll probably be wondering where we've be-"

 

Andrea stops suddenly.

 

"What's-" Tyler starts to ask, but shuts up as Andrea sharply shushes him. They both listen, Tyler straining his ears for any particular sound. And then he hears it - screaming.

_There it is. It's starting._

-

Immediately after they step out from the cozy 1970s cafe, the Carnival is in chaos. Most of the group except for Rosanna and Matt, (who are still weirdly enough on the Ferris Wheel, which doesn't sit well with Tyler,) are standing around a bright red Jack-In-The-Box. Manny's just let go of the thing's handle, and a creepy dead-eyed clown has popped off the top. A fern green smog has begun to fill the air.

  
The sky is a violet blue and cream for a couple seconds before nearly exploding and turning fern green again, with yellow streaks. Everyone screams. For an awful moment, Tyler's back in the World Between Worlds, with the dead Society Against Evil members and the cracked cyan earth and bright eggnog-smelling sky. And there's others screaming.

The townspeople of Everlock run amok, shoving into each other in an effort to get away from something. "Everyone remain calm!" Shouts someone, a man, and Tyler can see that it's the man that Nikita had been talking with earlier. From behind Tyler, someone drops off a balcony with a sickening _crunch_. He turns on the wide-eyed group, his stomach dropping a thousand times over. Teala's holding the bright red Jack-in-the-Box, and its open. Tyler looks at the clown again.  
A terrifying-looking clown has popped its head out, and he just now sees a knife sticking out from the white, reddish-brown and blue-grey fabric.

 _"DID - I - WHAT_ _HAPPENED!?_ "

He screams like a terrified mother angrily finding her children in the middle of a stolen cookie or a cracked picture frame.

 "I - I don't know!" Manny exclaims in bewilderment. "We just turned the handle, and now there's all these-" Safiya starts to say, then stops. Says his name. 

 

Tyler doesn't have time to turn around. He doesn't see the baseball bat.

" _Tyler!_ " Someone screams before it connects with his face, and his sight crumbles sideways. The Carnival around him disappears into utter nothingness.

-

"I'm not going," Is Eva's complaint. The World Between Worlds seems to crackle and thunder in response.  
"You didn't let me finish last time," Is the guarded yet increasingly frustrated Society Member's reply, who's been trying to convince the stubborn ex-Journalist to aid Tyler in his quest to save Everlock. More dark cyan cracks fill the earth below them.

"I don't need to hear anything you have to say-" Eva starts to stalk away.

"Listen. You will be able to bring back your allies. Your friends. What were their names - Andrea Brooks. Justine Ezarik. Timothy DeLaGhetto." Eva stops dead in her tracks. The strawberry-haired fighter lists them all off, and Eva turns back around. "If your friend manages to save Everlock, they all come back. _You_ can help him. You and your fellow survivor."

"Well, what if he fails?"

She wakes up before the Society Against Evil member can even open her mouth.

 -

The phone rings. Eva sits up fast. Of course this is the one day when her phone isn't by her side. She gets up, nearly tripping in the dark, before turning on her lamp and getting the darn phone. "Hello?" She stumbles back to her bed, slumping against the edge.

" _Hey._ " It's Oli.

"Did you have the same dream?" Eva asks.  
" _Yeah - the Society try to convince you to join Tyler's cause, too?_ "

"Yeah."

" _I feel bad for declining, but I don't want to get wrapped up in something stupid again._ " He sounds tired, like he's been thinking about this a lot, and Eva's muscles tense in sympathy. She sits up straighter, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers, thinking what to say.

"Don't feel bad for declining. Why would we want to help him?"

 

"It's _Tyler_ though, Eva. I don't know what I'd do if he ended up dying."

"He'll be fine - you should get some sleep, and tomorrow we can talk-" She's cut off.

"He might not be _alive_ tomorrow," Oli almost whines in concern at the other end. Eva huffs. "Honestly, Oli, Tyler's tougher than that. It's probably just a small quest, and no one is going to die or anything. Honestly, how bad could it be?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing the café scene and Eva's scene way too much help  
> Also sorry for the semi-cliffhanger!  
> Next Chapter: Tyler, Colleen, and Roi get trapped in a creepy RV, and Tyler hates everything. Also also, Tyler explains everything, and panic ensues. As usual.


End file.
